ATHENS, Ohio (May 6, 2004) -- Ohio University graduate students Brett Noel and Ariana Lindquist have won Fulbright grants for the 2004-05 academic year. Noel, a doctoral student in teacher education at Ohio University, will travel to Indonesia to study the implementation of conflict resolution education by a group of Indonesian teacher education professors. Lindquist, a master's student in visual communication, will travel to China to record the country's historic social and economic transition by creating photo stories examining Chinese definitions of success.

"Ariana is well-prepared for this project," said Terry Eiler, director of the School of Visual Communication. "When she came to school, she had a strong interest in Asian stories and narratives. Ohio University was a place where she could bring a great deal of talent and skill and hone it as a field researcher and visual storyteller and take it back to a culture that she had already experienced."

Lindquist earned a bachelor's degree in anthropology and art from the University of Minnesota and later spent three years living and studying Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan. Her photographs have been published in The Boston Globe, Yahoo! News, The Evansville Press, The Indianapolis Star and News, The Taipei Times and "The Lonely Planet." According to Lindquist, her photo stories "will be a valuable educational tool with which to increase understanding between the people of the United States and China." She plans a career in documentary photography and teaching documentary photography in the United States or Asia.

"This Fulbright award will serve as the culmination of five years of effort: Three that Ariana Lindquist spent learning Chinese in Taiwan and two that she has spent strengthening her photography skills in the visual communications program," said Ohio University's U.S. Fulbright Program advisor Elizabeth Clodfelter. "By focusing on Chinese definitions of success, she has chosen a fascinating Fulbright topic. I hope that the resulting portfolio will further her already bright career prospects as a freelance photographer."

According to Noel, a group of Indonesian Teacher Education professors have shown an interest in introducing conflict resolution education (CRE) to their students. "My research project is to examine the ways in which these professors will translate and adapt CRE in their local areas," he explained. "I will conduct a critical ethnography on the implementation of CRE in four university classrooms in East Java and possibly Medan, as the professors further develop their understanding and implement this Western-oriented curriculum."

Noel earned a master's degree in Southeast Asian Studies at Ohio University and is fluent in Indonesian. He has worked and traveled extensively in Indonesia. Recently, he has helped to design and implement a series of workshops on conflict resolution education in several Indonesian provinces. Upon the completion of his Fulbright year, Noel will return to Ohio University to complete his Ph.D. and then hopes to secure employment with an international agency working for the advancement of children's education and health.

"This award means a great deal to me," Noel said. "Without it, I was planning to go back to Indonesia, try to find work and fund the research on my own. I feel extremely fortunate and wish the best of luck for those still waiting on their replies."

This year, 13 Ohio University students were recommended to the final round of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. This is the highest number of recommended students that Ohio University has ever had in this prestigious national competition. These students, who applied to 11 countries, represent programs in four colleges, as well as the Center for International Studies. Last year, seven Ohio University students were recommended to the final round of Fulbright competition.

So far, two other students have won Fulbright awards for the upcoming academic year. The remaining candidates will each find out sometime in the next few months whether they will receive the award. Award winners will spend the 2004-05 year abroad working on projects funded by the Fulbright program.

Beth Clodfelter commends all of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program applicants. "The hard work, talent and potential that they demonstrated were exemplary, as was their initiative in deciding to apply in the first place," Clodfelter said. "The Institute for International Education has confirmed that more applications were submitted in the nationwide program this year than at any time in the last 51 years, so our applicants were facing what was statistically the toughest Fulbright competition ever."